#MeToo Lawmaker Tony Mendoza Gets Clear Message from His District, No Thanks!

13Jun
by Leticia Chavez-Garcia

Last Tuesday, June 5th, 2018 was D Day for many political hopefuls. One in particular that we covered and have been following closely over the last year was sent a strong message on Tuesday night, go away!  State Senator Tony Mendoza was on track to be expelled from the Senate over charges that were found to be credible including, “pattern of unwelcome flirtation and sexually suggestive behavior” toward female colleagues and staffers as young as 19,” which is especially troubling given his past profession is teaching.

Tony Mendoza was also the Senator that resigned after seeing the writing on the wall. I suspect that his resignation was an attempt to strategically save his seat by allowing him to resign and then run for his seat again without the added label of “expelled Senator.” His strategy failed. He his lost his bid for re-election outright.  Senate District 32, formerly represented by Mendoza, now faces two elections: one to immediately replace him will be held in August and another election to permanently replace him is set for November. Talk about a waste of money, having two elections for this seat in three months.

If you follow my writing at all, you should know that Mendoza’s loss brings me great joy. As an advocate for school choice, seeing Tony Mendoza lose gives me that “Bye, Felicia” type of feeling. Mendoza was bought and paid for by CTA, and he brought forth (over the years) numerous anti-school choice bills that were bad for education and bad for kids.  

We should pay close attention to this race and hope for a more balanced approach to education in Senate District 32 which includes the following cities:  Artesia, Bellflower, Buena Park, Cerritos, Commerce, Downey, Hawaiian Gardens, La Habra Heights, La Mirada, Lakewood, Montebello, Norwalk, Pico Rivera, Santa Fe Springs, Whittier as well as the following unincorporated areas of Los Angeles County:  East Los Angeles, East Whittier, Hacienda Heights, Rose Hills, South Whittier, West Whittier-Los Nietos.

Interestly, the short term candidates, having won the contest to run on the August ballot for a term to end in November, are Republican Rita Topalian and Democrat Vanessa Delgado. Try to follow me here. So, now if Topalian wins that election in August and goes to the Senate, she will become the incumbent and sitting Senator, which gives her great leverage over the November candidate, Democrat Bob Archuleta who won the second spot in the November election for the full term (2 years) starting in December, 2018.

La Comadre will be following this race closely because of the tremendous impact on the schools in the district, their students and parents.  

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Leticia Chavez-Garcia

Leticia Chavez-Garcia is a Mother, Grandmother, former Middle School Teacher, former Member of a School Board of Education and an Education Advocate for hundreds of parents and students in the Inland Empire. Having become a mother at 15, Leticia knows what it’s like to be a single mother trying to navigate the education system. Leticia received her Bachelor of Science Degree in Political Science and Public Administration from California Baptist University and a Masters’ Degree in Education Technology from Cal State Fullerton in her 30’s. Leticia has used her knowledge and experience to help hundreds of families as an Education Advocate in the Inland Empire and currently works as an Education Specialist.

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